5 Amazing Facts About USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) Aircraft Carrier

Named after the 38th President of the United States, the Gerald Ford class supercarrier is the largest Aircraft carrier of the world

Furthermore, it is the U.S. Navy’s most expensive aircraft carrier of all time with total costs of 13billion dollars.

In addition, The new carrier features a host of new and untested technology including the ship’s two main nuclear turbine generators, dual-band radar system, advanced weapons elevators and a new arresting gear on the flight deck.

1. Features & Numbers
This supercarrier is 337 meters long and 41 meters wide at the waterline but has a 78-meter wide flight deck. When at its heaviest, it displaces almost 100,000 tons of water – a weight load equivalent to that of 400 Statues of Liberty.

2. Construction & Cost
The planning and construction phase began more than a decade ago, when the first contract award in May 2004.
As per initial estimates, the carrier’s projected cost was around $14 billion including R&D, where the actual cost of the carrier itself was $9 billion.

3. Sailors and Aircraft
2,600 sailors will make up the USS Gerald Ford’s ships’ company – around 600 less than the crew of the USS Nimitz class carriers. These will be supplemented by about 2,000 more naval aviators, meaning that the carrier will typically deploy with 4,600 people on board. The USS Gerald R Ford has the capacity to accommodate up to 75 aircraft.

4. Speed & Sorties Capacity
The aircraft carrier will have a top speed of some 35 miles per hour and a technically unlimited range, though maintenance will need to be performed at regular intervals.

5. Ammunition
The ship will be armed with Sea Sparrow & Rolling Airframe missiles and the Close-in Weapon System. The Sea Sparrow is a medium-range surface-to-air missile, first introduced in early 2004. The Close-In Weapon System is a computer-operated gun and radar that fires rounds at a rate of 2,000 per minute and can cover a 3.6-kilometer range.